Friday, January 25, 2008

Tobey Maguire To Build in Brentwood

Looks like Tobey Maguire and his wifey Jennifer Meyer are indeed planning to spin a web for their little family in Brentwood. Your Mama knew the actor and the jewelry designer were looking for a place to live in Brentwood, which we mentioned earlier this week in our discussion about the purdy Brentwood digs that chat king Conan O'Brien recently purchased. However, little did we know the young couple had already plunked down a wallet full of cash for a vacant .93 acre lot on N. Carmelina in the flats just above Sunset Boulevard.

There's little we can add that wasn't already well covered by Mister Big Time in his big reveal about the Maguire/Meyer purchase. So rather than try to be witty, clever or even thorough, Your Mama will sign out so we can get ourselves properly put together for a dinner party honoring our boozy, foul mouthed, and often nekkid friend Falsetta Knockers and her sharply talented and somewhat well known novelist huzband.

38 comments:

Alessandra said...

For a lot that is nearly an acre, it looks small. Also, are they doing zero lot lines in Brentwood? How does he build and not have both of his neighbors bang up in his grill?

Anonymous said...

In that part of Brentwood the houses run between north/south streets. All of North Carmelina is long, narrow lots. Some go half way, like this one apparently, and some go all the way back to the street behind. O.J.'s old house went all the way back from Rockingham to the street behind; the yard had a big pool and beyond it a full tennis court setup. At the rear was the gate that he walked out of when he managed to get away from 2000 cameramen and reporters standing by the front door, none of whom thought "maybe he'll go out the back." In my opinion that's likely how he got "in" from his field trip that night. But I digress. Nobody in this area really has much of a "side yard" as we used to say in Massachusetts.

Anonymous said...

Looks are deceiving. That is a 10,000 s.f. house with the red roof and an 8,000 s.f. house at the bottom of the photo.

I would have said that what appears to be a lack of setback was old houses but the neighboring houses were built in 1996 and 2005. So I'm guessing it is another case of the photo being deceptive.

Kind of sad to read that the house that was torn down was another John Byers (same architect as the Sampras house Mama just wrote about) and that it had it's share of celebrity owners.

Anonymous said...

Perhaps there's enough room for him to disassemble that English monstrousity and reassemble it here?

Any bets?

Whatever he puts on that lot he's going to have to remain on awfully good terms with his nosy neighbors.

Anon, 3:38, when was the Byers house torn down and who were some of its residents?

Anonymous said...

If you look on Zillow, this lot does go all the way back to Canyon View but it is right on a curve so part of the back has access to Canyon View and part is jutted into the front yard of another house.

Anonymous said...

LGB, I don't want to get in trouble with your "secret admirer" so I'm going to play safe and say look at Mama's link to Mr. Big Time. I read about it there.

:-)

Anonymous said...

good call anon 3:45.

i was just going to mention it as well.

i suspect it does/could connect.

:)

Anonymous said...

Hey 3:45:
If you want to max out all that Zillow offers with the map feature, try this:

When you see the outlined properties map, click the call-out box pointing to search property.

Now click on the address.

This brings up birds eye view feature.

Now, go to the lower right corner and click "larger view" option.

You're at the bigger view now. Here's the really cool part, see the North East South West view buttons below? They are sattelite shots that represent four distince captures in time. So, for this one, the North view is a gutted lot. Hit the East view and you'll see the 5,000+ house that once stood. It had a pool and tennis court out back. And it was a super tight fit to the prop lines.

If you want to see a tighter shot, magnify you screen using the feature in lower right corner of explorer screen. Bump to 200% or whatever. If you get lost, see the buttons before NSEW cause there's a button to get you back on track.

This is fun. Let's learn from each other!

PS This is how I was able to respond to Bentley's question about the windows on that tudor a few posts back.

Anonymous said...

Well I love Brentwood. So I hope that Tobey and the Mrs build something elegant.

Anonymous said...

Great neighborhood...I lived about a block away in the '70s. I'd definitely work it out for driveway access on Canyon View -- make it way more convenient to the light at Cliffwood for what are probably some gnarly turns onto Sunset. (I'm sure I'm not only guy going 50 or 60 mph over that Anita-Medio-Carmelina crest...)

Alessandra said...

Thanks for the Zillow insights, Sandpiper.

I'd actually have to drive by this parcel to see if it meets with my personal site feng shui but still am not impressed with the aerial view.

Anonymous said...

I am so off topic. Just saw Jerry O'Connell's spoof on the Tom Cruise Scientology video. Had to share it! (I am Switzerland on religious topics. This is just plain funny business.)

http://www.aolvideoblog.com/2008/01/25/best-videos-of-the-week-1-25-08-no-14/

Anonymous said...

Sandpiper,

Thanks for the info on the dormers. Zillow is terrific!

Anonymous said...

Hey Bentley...My pleasure, sir!

Anonymous said...

Sandpiper, that was priceless!

I got an advance copy of Cruise's unauthorized biography that I've almost finished - seriously deranged, that young man.

Anonymous said...

Little Buddy,
No doubt a spooky guy. I see him and change the channel. What's in the bio. Spill!!!!

Anonymous said...

Sandpiper,

Haven't gotten to the juiciest parts yet, but it seems he's being groomed by David Miscavige to be the next leader of the "church".

His first wife, Mimi Rogers, recruited him (and receives an handsome stipend for it; every new recruit gets you a lifetime commission from the church).

They are extremely homophobic (L. Ron Hubbard suggested that all gays should be "disposed of quietly and without sorrow." Just how he wouldn't say.)

They have the largest intelligence organization in the country, and there is no tactic they will not stoop to in defending themselves (wiretapping, death treats, character assassination, tampering with credit histories, etc.)

Truly scary stuff - will keep you updated.

Anonymous said...

Took a little side trip west of the 405 to check this out. Pleasant street, near a triangular intersection with Anita. A gentle downslope from Carmelina, with a fairly steep drop-off as it reaches Canyon View. The neighboring houses are built very close to lot lines, but it looks like trees serve as a fairly effectively screen for the big Tuscan-y house next door. Still, the lots feel too narrow, like everyone's holding their breath and if they only had an extra 20 feet of width, they could exhale.

I'd much rather have 200 N Cliffwood (northeast corner of Cliffwood and Canyon View) which is three lots away and currently listed at $10 million. It's a smaller lot (31,000 square feet), but has more usable square-ish dimensions.

Anonymous said...

Little Buddy...
What kind of a belief system is that? It's disturbing. In reality I know there are "organizations" that shum gays. That blows. I have family members in that group that I adore, and good friends (here included). This bias will always irritate me. Cruise's homes must look shitous, without nice gay decorators to call the shots! Or do they? Hummm. Now that's an interesting thought.

Anonymous said...

Can anyone ezplain how a property with an existing structure can be bought for $5.8M in'04, updated and listed for $6.6M '07(?) then be valued + purchased as a vacant lot/teardown?? Sounds more like the current buyer-Speedyman-raped the lot to start over.
I seriously doubt zero lot lines in this area-agree distances can be misleading from aerial distant views.

Anonymous said...

Hey 7:13. I believe Alessandra was joking about the zero lot lines -- the set-backs are tight, but not that tight.

An "update" is in the eye of the beholder. It might mean a mild superficial spruce-up or it could be more dramatic. In either case, the value here for an older, original house is almost exclusively in the land.

Anonymous said...

L. Ron Hubbard was an old Navy guy who used to tell his friends he was gonna' invent a religion based on science fiction and make billions. He said that thousands of years ago aliens came to earth and killed every living creature, releasing - as you'd expect - lots of tiny bits of bad karma engrams into the atmosphere. We're all born with them - it's Ronnie's version of original sin - and we need to get rid of them to achieve a "state of clear." How do we do that? We pay the church! Great idea. Buy a tape... lose some bits. Buy a book... lose some bits. When you first start, "auditor" wire you up to a couple of orange juice cans with wires to determine how many bad bits you have... Costs about $300,000 to get there. Wackos like Tommy Boy just write a check and what do you know, we're clear! It's beyond bizarre. And they do have a HUGE intelligence operation to mess with anyone trying to leave. Let's say a big star is a former male escort... hmmm, do we leave? No. Buy a copy of "A Piece of the Blue Sky," an insider's look at this "church." Before the internet, copies were impossible to find because they had to puy them and destroy them.

Praise the Lode... At least they know more about psychology than people from med school.

Anonymous said...

ej

it seem like you didn't finish your thought. where do you stand on scientology in the cruise vernacular?

Anonymous said...

All I know from what I've read so far is that they have "minders" (auditors) who constantly monitor your actions as you move up through the different levels of the "church", each costing you money (weird ass level names like Thetan IV and OT VIII, which is the top, and apparently where Cruise is now). Sounds like something out of Star Trek.

That two "orange juice cans with wires" is no joke; apparently at one point L. Ron hooked such a device up to a tomato, which supposedly revealed it was lying.

Evidently Nicole was uncomfortable with her auditor (who accompanied her 24/7) and with this whole setup, especially after they adopted two children, and wanted out.

Must have cost her a bundle to extract herself from that mayhem. She's only allowed limited contact with her children from that marriage (Isabella and Connor, who live with their father, his mother and his sisters, who also, with no experience, manage his career), mostly via email and webcam.

By the way, Katie Holmes Cruise has her own full-time minder from the church, her "new best friend" by the name of Jessica Feshbach Rodriguez.

This whole Scientology scam represents nothing so much as an Amway Of The Soul, with no faith-based precepts, just a lot of junk science and insidious pop-psychology (oh, how they HATE psychiatrists!) layered over a Ponzi scheme; full of money grubbing and infused with hate for those outside of their "faith", mostly because they can't get access to their bank accounts.

Anonymous said...

looks like a nice old comfortable family home that was on the property previously, complete with white picket fence out front. its funny with different views of that empty lot, the house pops up, almost like looking at a ghost.
its too bad nobody saw any value to that house other than a teardown. slap up the new monstrosity i guess.

Anonymous said...

funny insights on religion, keep em coming. i did read once where the top of that pyramid scheme of scientology laughs at all the sheep they reel in & all the bs they make them go through. cruise must be their favorite comedian.
no different than any other religion i guess.
weird story about travolta & his old pornstar boyfriend also, something about he wanted out of scientology but the nutjobs at the top used his past to keep him in

Anonymous said...

I just read their site's definition of auditing, then glanced it again switching out the words "auditor / auditing" with "psychiatrist / psychiatry." The piece still makes the same point. Only difference to me is that the auditors do not have a medical degree.

Anonymous said...

And auditors are by nature out of their minds if that's what they do for a living. Nicky didn't have to work too hard to extricate herself from Top Gun. This is just a vicious rumor, and may or may not be true, so don't quote me (unless you want to in which case I'll deny it, even if it is - it sure seems to be - true) but like in the fairy tales everything was happy in the seperate bedroom, don't touch me I won't touch you world of the king when the queen came down with a bad case of pregnancy, supposedly from the lead minion of Moulon Rouge. Well, this didn't set well with the king, because he didn't touch the queen except to dust her off and take her to photo shoots, so it seemed that the progeny was not the fruit of his tiny little loins, so the angry king demanded she be banished. Unfortunately for the king, they had been married longer than 10 years, which has a baaaaaad (think Porky Pig) effect on pre-nups. They go bye-bye. Now the queen was a strong woman - much like the new little queenette who was called "a strong woman" by her addled mother, but don't get me started on her - and told the king, sorry pal, we were married for 10 years so I want many hundreds of millions of dollars. The king originally said, no way, I left in November (pre-10 yr. anniversary) but the queen said, no you were still here in March (post-10 yr.). So happily for the queen, the king realized he was now literally as well as figuratively balls-less and settled a large bounty on her to shut her up and move her on. And that's today's fairy tale. Fairy tale is so appropriate it's almost too funny, actually. Rumor was Nicky got over $50,000,000 cash dollars to leave quietly. Then she had a "miscarriage." Damn shame. Damn shame. But, as you all know, I love a love story.

Anonymous said...

E.J.

Would this be the ectopic pregnancy she was forced to testify about in British court to confirm that Tom was indeed a hetero when he sued the tabloids that claimed that they were both gay and the marriage was merely a "business arrangement"?

Or the supposed pregnancy with Moulin Rouge co-star Ewan McGregor?

Or the child she was carrying (supposedly Tom's) when he dumped her? The one she miscarried, and wisely saved a DNA sample of should Tom continue to harass her?

Anonymous said...

now thats a good story & don't hold back on the new queenette.

Anonymous said...

Caveman, the new queenette is still being indoctrinated, she's changed her couture, cut her hair in a bob, starting wearing mega-heels and is generally reported by all her old friends as much more reserved, lifeless, and not her former carefree self.

Still has a full time Scientology minder wherever she goes, and I imagine that her bank account has started to dwindle . . .

Anonymous said...

thats probably not gonna end well, then again, i'm the master of the obvious.

Anonymous said...

Little Buddy...you forgot her nose job. You're slipping, babe.

Anonymous said...

nose jobs don't count, border patrol won't let you in the state w/o one.

Anonymous said...

Sandpiper,

Good Heavens! You mean that's not her real nose?

;-)

Anonymous said...

I'll lead with my normal disclaimer, because my stories are just a vicious rumor, and may or may not be true, so don't quote me (unless you want to in which case I'll deny it, even if it is - it sure seems to be - true). But I hear from people very close to the kinglette and ex-queen that the ex-queen had a funny habit of getting really close to co-stars... going walk back. Funny coincidence how they first met, but that's another story. The vicious rumor was that Moulon Rouge or Moulin or whatever it is relationship bore fruit as it were. Now, it's just a rumor of course, even if it is true, but that's what I heard from people in the production. Too bad, really, that such a wonderful love story - that only cost about $2,000,000 a year - the second queen of weird got a much better deal - would end. Heartbreaking, actually. But it's an honor to be a stupidtologist though. An honor. We can make things happen. We can fix criminals. We can fix drugs. We can keep people quiet. That's the story I heard. Also, a close relative worked very high up with Opie's production company and worked with the king and queen or queen and queen if you will and told me that the king was mortified when his "specially made" cowboy boots - his lucky boots - were stolen and offered a big reward, like $10,000. Surprising nobody returned them; it's not like there's another alleged cow"boy" out there looking for 3" lifts in cowboy boots. The conventional wisdom is that the king is 5'4" or so. Think the king in Shreck. But not as funny.

Anonymous said...

This was Mimi Rogers' quote when she dumped his midgness: "Tom belives in maintaining the purity of his instrument and mine needs tuning occasionally." Other than the fact that she's a morontologist I love that girl.

If she stayed with him she'd have the ex-queen's career now. Big features and big dollars.

Oh, the humanity.

Anonymous said...

As talented as she may have been, Mimi Roger's father was part of a group that splintered off from the Scientologists, which made them want her to "go away."

After the sham of "chaplain counseling" to try and save the marriage, she was labeled a Potential Trouble Source, and quietly bought off for the tune of $10M - that and her threat to open the "Pandora's Box" on Scientology if anyone ever violated the confidentiality clause.